70d is producing shots with prominent white streaks! Cleaned everything. Sensor issue!? Thoughts?

[LookingGlassGir]

My 70d suddenly started taking shots with a PROMINENT white streak! The smaller the aperture the more prominent it is...this led me to believe it may be a dust issue ( although I have never seen dust accumulate this way) so I thoroughly cleaned everything. It didn't seem to help. Any thoughts? It seems as though it might be a sensor issue...which I would hate to replace!

[cicopo · Accepted solution]

Looks like a shutter problem.

[jrhoffman75]

Try reformaiing your card or try a different card.

[LookingGlassGir]

Thank you!I tried this in my first round of trouble shooting, unfortunately it did not help.

[TCampbell]

This appears to be an internal reflection.  It *might* be caused by the lens, but not necessarily.

Remote the lens and follow the instructions to put the camera into manual sensor-cleaning mode.  This will cause the reflex mirror to swing up and the shutter will open.  

Ordinarily you'd do this to clean the sensor... but this time you want to do it just to inspect the camera and make sure everything did, in fact, swing clear of the optical path between the lens and the sensor (e.g. make sure the mirror isn't just partially swinging up, etc.

If everything is swinging clear then it's possible this is in the lens (do you have more than one lens?)

You may wan to remove the lens and look through it with the lens pointed at a plain non-contrast subject... such as a plain white wall.  You're looking for obstructions, etc.

You may also need to re-attach the lens to the camera, and do this again... but this time set a high f-stop (e.g. f/11, f/16, f/22) and use the camera's Depth of Field preview button.  This would allow you to check to verify that all of the aperture blades are properly sliding in and out and you don't have a stuck blade on the aperture.

[LookingGlassGir]

I do have several different lens options and the obstruction appears using all of them. Leading me to believe that the issue is with the camera body itself.

I went through the Manual sensor mode several times today both to clean and check for obstructions. The mirror seems to be functioning properly. The cleaning rendered me with a nice crisp shot.....of the streak!

I am stumped.

[cicopo · Accepted solution]

Looks like a shutter problem.

[ebiggs1]

Yes it is a shutter problem.  In fact it is a shutter blade is sticking.

[RobertTheFat]

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@ebiggs1 wrote:

Yes it is a shutter problem.  In fact it is a shutter blade is sticking.

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If it's a sticking shutter blade, why doesn't the streak extend the entire length of the frame? Could it be a sticking mirror, possibly in the autofocus mechanism, instead?

Either way, of course, it presumably needs the attention of a professional repair shop.

[ebiggs1]

It is sticking, not totally blocking.

[TCampbell]

Can you post an example?

Dust can usually be spotted by pointing the camera to something light with no contrast (a plain white wall... a plain blue sky, etc.) and taking a photo at very high f-stop (e.g. f/22 or higher) and again at your lowest f-stop.  The dust will show much more prominently at high f-stop.  If there's no difference between high & low f-stop, it's probably not dust.

You may also be experience some sort of flare... points of light will throw diffraction spikes at high f-stops and you can also pick up reflections or ghost (at any f-stop).  Filters can be especially problematic for adding to flare or ghosting issues.